U.S. Bans Americans From Staying In More Than 80 Cuban Hotels : The Two-WayThe Trump administration's new Cuba Restricted List includes stores, marinas and government ministries, along with rum and tourism companies.

U.S. Bans Americans From Staying In More Than 80 Cuban Hotels

The luxury Manzana de Gomez Kempinski hotel in Havana is off-limits to Americans, according to a State Department list of banned companies and hotels in Cuba that was published on Wednesday.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
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Ramon Espinosa/AP

The luxury Manzana de Gomez Kempinski hotel in Havana is off-limits to Americans, according to a State Department list of banned companies and hotels in Cuba that was published on Wednesday.

Ramon Espinosa/AP

Americans can still fly to Cuba under new rules put out by the Trump administration's new rules. But once they land on the island, they'll need to avoid more than 80 hotels and dozens of other companies that the U.S. says are tied to Cuba's military, intelligence or security services.

The State Department issued a Cuba Restricted List on Wednesday, placing dozens of hotels off-limits to American visitors. (See the full rundown at the end of this post.)

Other blacklisted enterprises range from the rum companies Ron Caney and Ron Varadero to the newly opened Manzana de Gomez luxury shopping mall. A number of shops, marinas and beverage companies are also included in the ban.

As member station WLRN reports, "The days of Americans legally staying at Ernest Hemingway's Old Havana haunt, the Hotel Ambos Mundos, or making purchases at Havana's only luxury shopping arcade, will be over."

The new restrictions give detail to a presidential memorandum that President Trump signed in June, in which he pledged to stiffen U.S. policies toward Cuba that had been relaxed by the Obama administration.

"Travelers will have to go through organizations that are approved by the US government to promote people to people ties. One such group, Cuba Educational Travel, calls this a Cold War policy that is out of touch, but adds there are still many ways for Americans to visit Cuba, now that there are commercial flights, cruise ships, Marriott hotels and Airbnb."

For U.S. citizens who plan to visit Cuba, Michele adds, "officials say if you are already booked on a trip, you can go ahead."

Two tourist agencies — Crucero del Sol and Gaviota Tours — are on the State Department's list of businesses and other entities that the U.S. says "disproportionately benefit" Cuba's security and military services "at the expense of the Cuban people or private enterprise in Cuba."

Cuba is currently in its high season for tourists. Its ministry of tourism says that as of Nov. 6, the island had already equaled the 4 million visitors it received in all of last year. Noting that the mark was reached despite "campaigns to deter international visitors" as well as Hurricane Irma, the ministry says that "several key resorts" reopened on Nov. 1, according to Granma, Cuba's official press outlet.

At least two of those reopened resorts — Cayo Santa María and Cayo Coco — appear on the U.S. list, which runs to more than eight pages.

Here's the list of Cuban hotels and subsidiaries to avoid, per the State Department's new rules. (You can see the full list, including government agencies and enterprises, in the Federal Register.)